More than two decades after Grandmaster Flash dropped the needle on a record, some elements of hip-hop have fallen by the wayside: graffiti, break dancing, the art of the DJ. Now, it seems, most DJs are employed as stage dressing for anyone who wants street cred. But the X-ecutioners, a crew of enormously talented DJs, want to bring you back to a time, not so long ago, when Jazzy Jeff got top billing over Will Smith.

The group started in 1989, a collective of eleven DJs who had met at clubs and DJ contests. They called themselves the X-Men after the comic book, so they could battle another crew called the Supermen. At first, the attitude was lax. As the years passed and the group got more serious, most of the members dropped out. Now only three remain: Rob Swift, Roc Raida and Total Eclipse. (Mista Sinista, who appears on their new album, Built From Scratch, left in February to pursue a solo career and play the role of a DJ on a Showtime pilot.)

Renamed the X-ecutioners, the group released its debut album, X-pressions, in 1997, and began making a good living with live performances. "We rarely turn down a show," says Swift. They've played in lots of nontraditional hip-hop venues, such as Lincoln Center, the Smithsonian Institution and a Linkin Park tour. Swift says, "Phoenix, [Linkin Park's] bass player, gave us a pep talk, let us know the importance of serving the crowd. So now we know what to play in front of different audiences -- if they don't know Eric B. and Rakim, we can play Aerosmith and Limp Bizkit."

Linkin Park appear on Built From Scratch, which also includes collaborations with Everlast and the Wu-Tang Clan's Inspectah Deck. The album features lots of virtuoso turntable gymnastics but never becomes monotonous: The scratching is in the service of a full hip-hop sound. "A good DJ understands that your goal is to send a crowd home happy," says Swift. "A bad DJ is DJ'ing for himself, or other DJs."

The X-ecutioners are at their best live, juggling beats and putting on a show. Sometimes the crew will trade off eight bars at a time, seeing who can produce the most impressive scratching. Other times they'll approach hip-hop like more traditional musicians. Eclipse says, "I'd be the drummer, Rob would be the percussionist and Raida would be the vocalist. Every instrumentalist gets a place where he solos. And for me to be a guitarist, all I have to do is have a record with a guitar and apply my rhythm. Onstage, we're a complete band."

GAVIN EDWARDS
(RS 893 - April 11, 2002)